Alaska (June 20, 2017)–Today, thirteen organizations sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging continued protection of the Western Arctic. The letter highlights the groups’ opposition to changing the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska’s Integrated Activity Plan to diminish current protections to Teshekpuk Lake and other designated Special Areas. These lands include some of the most biologically rich wildlife areas in America’s Arctic.

The Western Arctic – also known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska – includes 23 million acres of public lands – the nation’s largest public land unit. These places provide vital habitat for wildlife such as caribou herds, migratory birds, grizzly bears, polar bears and wolves.

A key feature of the lands is the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. The 40,000-head Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd, an important subsistence and food security resource for nearby communities, uses the land around Teshekpuk Lake as calving grounds. In addition, half a million shorebirds breed in these lands, making it one of the most important shorebird sites in the Arctic.

“The Western Arctic is one of the last spectacularly wild places in America and Teshekpuk Lake is its crown jewel,” stated Danielle Murray, Senior Director at the Conservation Lands Foundation. “The Secretarial Order is another example of Zinke aligning himself with industry despite the harm to wildlife, Native Alaskans and the sportsmen’s community. These are America’s public lands and should not be sacrificed for the benefit of ConocoPhillips.”

“The Reserve has long been recognized for its incredible wildlife and subsistence values in northwest Alaska,” said Kristen Miller, Alaska Wilderness League’s interim executive director. “Upsetting this carefully crafted plan is irresponsible. The Interior Department spent years working with the tribal community, local governments, the state of Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group and others on its current management plan. This plan is just a handful of years old and recognizes areas of critical importance to wildlife and North Slope residents, including Teshekpuk Lake.”

“The Teshekpuk Lake area in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska provides a safe haven and globally-significant nesting habitat for millions of birds, including waterfowl that migrate through the lower 48 states and can be found in communities across the country,” stated Sarah Greenberger, VP for Conservation Policy, National Audubon Society. Secretary Zinke should maintain the existing management plan, which incorporated the best available science and compromises on all sides, to provide strong protections for birds and wildlife while also allowing for development in less sensitive areas.”

This letter is sent to the Secretary in response to a recent Secretarial Order. On May 31, 2017, at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association conference, the Secretary of the Interior signed Secretarial Order 3352. The Secretarial Order kicks off a process to re-open sensitive habitat in the Western Arctic to oil and gas development by re-opening the 2013 plan for these lands. This plan offered critically needed protections for Special Areas in the Western Arctic, including Teshekpuk Lake and the Utukok River Uplands.

“Expanding oil and gas drilling in the Arctic is incompatible with the realities of climate change,” said Erik Grafe, Staff Attorney with Earthjustice in Alaska. “We must begin to forge a just transition toward a cleaner, more sustainable energy future, not double down on fossil fuels that will lock in decades of pollution in a region that is ground zero for climate change. Secretary Zinke should leave in place the protections afforded by the existing management plan for the Western Arctic.”

The 2013 Integrated Activity Plan allowed for drilling in more than 11 million acres while protecting 11 million acres critical for Native Alaska subsistence, recreation, wildlife and fish. More than 400,000 sportsmen, scientists, Alaskans, tribal members and citizens commented in favor of the protections that were ultimately adopted in the 2013 Integrated Activity Plan.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 31, 2017)—Earlier today, at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association Conference, the Secretary of Interior signed Secretarial Order (S.O.) 3352. The S.O. attempts to open over 11 million acres of fragile habitat to oil & gas drilling by reversing a 2013 plan that balanced energy development with the protection of five Special Areas in the Western Arctic: Teshekpuk Lake, Colville River, Utukok River Uplands, Peard Bay and Kasegaluk Lagoon.

The original Integrated Activity Plan attempted to provide balance in the 22.8 million-acre Western Arctic (also known as the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska). The plan allowed for drilling in over 11 million acres while protecting 11 million acres critical to fish, wildlife, recreation and Native Alaskan subsistence. The plan was supported by over 400,000 Americans including sportsmen, Alaska Native subsistence users represented by the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group, and villages, tribes and other organizations representing more than 90 villages in Alaska that called for protection of the wildlife and special places within the Western Arctic.

“The order calls for revisiting a management plan that was finalized after a massive public process only several years ago. Upsetting this carefully crafted plan is irresponsible, and the fact that this administration is considering doing so shows that they are only interested in developing our special public lands, not conserving the full range of values on them that so many Americans hold dear,” stated Peter Van Tuyn, Managing Partner at Bessenyey & Tuyn, LLC in Anchorage, Alaska.

“Today’s action by Zinke negates the years of public input by Alaskans particularly on the North Slope. The original plan for this region balanced resource and habitat protection with development—it’s a plan that works for Alaskans,” stated Michael Wald, former BLM Resource Advisory Council Member and Co-owner and Guide at Arctic Wild. “I’ve guided in the Western Arctic for over 15 years and my clients are awe inspired by the wild nature and abundant wildlife in the region. It truly is a world-class ecosystem. I am disheartened by Zinke’s desire to open up this entire region to oil and gas development without public input.”

ConocoPhillips has been a major player in the development expansion in the Western Artic and in 2015, ConocoPhillips was required to pay 8 million dollars in mitigation fees for violating current protections. Since the change in administration the company has been more vocal in its desire to remove protections in the region. Earlier this year ConocoPhillips Alaska President Joe Marushack was open about his thoughts on the Western Arctic, telling company officials he had “hopes of working with the new administration in opening up some of that land, but that is still to come.”

“Zinke showed his true colors by aligning himself with ConocoPhillips despite the harm to wildlife, Native Alaskans and sportsmen,” stated Danielle Murray, Senior Director at the Conservation Lands Foundation.“The Western Arctic is one of the last places that supports Native Alaskan culture and subsistence living. Secretary Zinke’s reckless order places greater value on ConocoPhillips’ quarterly reports than it does on the Americans who live there.”

The Western Arctic is home to many wild and some endangered species including grizzlies, wolverines, wolves, musk-ox, polar bears, beluga whales and breeding ground for immense number of shorebirds and waterfowl. The region most under threat, Teshekpuk Lake, hosts 32,000 caribou for calving season during the summer months.

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Adventures Through Alaska’s Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/adventures-through-alaskas-western-arctic
Fri, 11 Sep 2015 17:25:37 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=9055read more]]>Gazing across the horizon I pick out a mountain that doesn’t look too far away to hike. From our campsite, the view a few miles across the tundra to the rocky ridge looks unimpeded and smooth—we’re above the Arctic tree line after all. It should be an easy trek to the summit, but it only takes hiking a few slow miles through marshy tussock grass and standing water to realize the mountain is actually further than it first appears.

Whether by foot, boat, or plane, it is moving through the landscape of Alaska’s Western Arctic that gives you a true sense of the vastness of the place. Few places exist in the U.S. that are wilder than the Western Arctic. In a place unknown to most Americans you can find hundreds of thousands of caribou, millions of migratory birds from across the world, and polar bears and walrus along its coasts. The Western Arctic Reserve is the size of Indiana at 23 million acres, and is one of America’s wildest secrets.

As a visitor to the region, I was able to join a trip following the Nigu, Etivluk, and Colville Rivers as they flow through this amazing landscape. Our group from across the U.S. spent 8 days in just one small section of the Reserve getting introduced to the foothills of the Brooks Range, the clear flow of the rivers, and the plenitude of the tundra (especially the cloudberries!) It’s a humbling experience to visit such a place.

For Alaska Native communities, the Arctic’s land, waters, and wildlife have supported their subsistence way of life for thousands of years. Evidence of the Iñupiat people of the Arctic is almost everywhere you look, from remnants of tent rings to stone fences that aided in caribou hunting to carved antler and bones. The past is still the present in the Arctic as traditions, cultures, and subsistence activities live on.

However, time has not stood still in the Arctic and many changes have and will continue to take place. Within the Western Arctic Reserve, there are five “Special Areas” where wildlife resources and conservation are priorities, and of this about 11 million acres are off-limits to oil and gas development and supporting infrastructure.

On this trip, we visited two of those areas: the Utukok Uplands and the Colville River Special Areas. The Utukok Uplands are the main calving grounds for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, at 235,000 animals. The Colville River is the largest river in Alaska’s Arctic, and its steep cliff banks support nearly 70 kinds of birds, including birds of prey like the gyrfalcon; its waters support over 20 species of fish.

The other important conservation areas are the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, which sustains the calving of 70,000 caribou and millions of migrating birds and waterfowl, the Kasegaluk Lagoon Special Area which supports beluga whales, seals, and walrus along the northwest coast, and Peard Bay Special Area which provides shelter for polar bears, seals, waterfowl, and shorebirds. It is no secret that wildlife thrives in the Western Arctic.

Other regions outside of the Special Areas are open to oil and gas development and projects are poised to move forward. It is more important than ever to ensure that an approach to managing these public lands balances the importance of wildlife and habitat protection even as development advances. America has no other place like the Western Arctic, in terms of wildlife and communities who depend on them.

Moving forward only the best technology and management practices should be allowed to protect connectivity throughout the landscape, support wildlife in surrounding areas, and protect the quality of this public landscape. The Western Arctic Reserve belongs to all Americans, and it’s up to us to ensure this place–in all its vastness and wildness–is everyone’s to experience for generations to come.

]]>Decision Point for the Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/decision-point-for-the-western-arctic
Mon, 20 Oct 2014 18:00:51 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=7766read more]]>In just a few weeks, the Bureau of Land Management will issue its final decision for the first oil production facility in Alaska’s Western Arctic. The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) is our nation’s largest parcel of public land, and over half of its 23 million acres are available for oil and gas leasing and development. The question at hand is not whether oil and gas drilling will take place, but how to protect the wildlife, subsistence, and wilderness character of the Reserve at the same time.

This decision should set the standard for all future development to use the best available technology and ensure the smallest possible footprint and minimal impacts to this fragile, wildlife-rich landscape.

“The March 27 memo by BLM Alaska State Director Bud Cribley suggests the agency was bent on approving ConocoPhillips Co.’s proposal to drill year-round in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) with a new 8-mile gravel road, conservationists said.

The memo, which groups obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, says BLM will consider seasonal drilling in its final environmental review ‘but does not anticipate a significant environmental benefit to be shown in the analysis.’”

That statement shows BLM made its decision prior to completing the process in creating the Environmental Impact Statement. The article continues with Mark Squillace’s analysis, an environmental law professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder:

“The goal, the heart, of an EIS is to provide the agency with a sense of the pros and cons of the options. The conclusions that the memo makes regarding the expected impacts of seasonal drilling are troubling, since they appear to prejudge the impacts that will presumably be determined during the EIS process.”

BLM’s draft analysis for the project included only one alternative without road access but did not analyze any scenarios that would diminish the environmental impacts of that alternative, such as seasonal drilling, which could reduce the footprint of the roadless alternative and limits activity to the winter season when ice roads are available, avoiding months when nesting birds and caribou migration are critical. The seasonal drilling option deserves an unbiased analysis from BLM. The article continues:

“If ConocoPhillips is allowed to build a road to GMT1, it sets the stage for a road to the next drilling project, and so forth. ConocoPhillips and its backers in Congress say roads are the only affordable way to develop oil in the reserve.”

Industry was singing a different tune not long ago. Today even Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski contradicts her father Senator Frank Murkowski, who in 2002 stated on the Congressional record (P. S2861):

“Now let me show you how we operate. I said we are not going to have roads. We are not going to open up gravel pits. That is drilling in the Arctic… That is a winter road. It is a road that is frozen. It works fine… Where are they talking about these big gravel roads? It isn’t done anymore. We use technology.” – Senator Frank Murkowski, April 17, 2002

With just weeks to go before BLM issues its final decision, the public deserves to have all options on the table. We have an opportunity today to move forward with developing the Reserve’s oil and gas resources in a way that values wildlife, habitat and subsistence uses while minimizing impacts on this spectacular landscape. Now is the time to raise the bar on this precedent-setting decision.

]]>Journey on the Etivluk River in Alaska’s Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/journey-on-the-etivluk-river-in-alaskas-western-arctic
Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:16:11 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=7294read more]]>There are few places in the U.S. where you can find herds of wild animals living as they have for thousands of years. In Alaska’s Western Arctic that’s about all you can encounter as it is home of two of the largest caribou herds in the country. I just visited this amazing place with Conservation Lands Foundation supporters and board members and even had the pleasure of becoming a caribou.

As we walked down the ridge we didn’t want to frighten the caribou looking up at us. Instead, we held our arms over our heads like our own pairs of antlers as we walked down toward the caribou, and we got pretty close until the caribou smelled us for what we were: humans in need of a shower.

Photo credit Ron Hunter: As we descend the Smith Mountains we all become caribous.

Our group of 10 explorers spent 8 days in the Western Arctic exploring one of the most remote landscapes in the country. We came from all walks of life, including businessmen, conservationists, videographers, naturalists, and more. We landed in one of the most misnamed places on earth, the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (the Reserve).

The Reserve is our nation’s largest unit of public land at 23 million acres—about the size of Maine—and it is largely untouched. The Reserve houses many natural resources beyond the buried fossil fuels implied in the name. The land, waters, and wildlife have supported Alaska Native communities for thousands of years, and they continue to support subsistence lifestyles today. The Reserve also continues to enthrall visitors, like our crew.

Our journey began when we landed on a gravel bar along the Etivluk River near the confluence of the Nigu River. We camped, hiked, and paddled our way down the Etivluk, which flows north to the Colville River and—if we had kept paddling—eventually reaches the Arctic Ocean. We planned our trip to explore important wildlife and conservation areas in the Reserve.

Photo credit Lindsey Hajduk: East Fork of the Etivluk River. Its confluence with the Etivluk River is one of the most remote spots in the US.

There are 5 “Special Areas” within the Reserve that are identified for their conservation values, and they encompass nearly 11 million acres. We got to visit two of those areas: the Utukok Uplands and the Colville River Special Areas. The Utukok Uplands are the main calving grounds for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, at 235,000 animals, and they are incredibly important for continued subsistence use of many communities. The Colville River is the largest river in Alaska’s arctic, and its steep cliff banks support nearly 70 kinds of birds, including birds of prey like the gyrfalcon, and its waters support over 20 kinds of fish.

The other important conservation areas are the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, which sustains the calving of 70,000 caribou and millions of migrating birds and waterfowl; the Kasegaluk Lagoon Special Area supports beluga whale, seals, and walrus along the northwest coast; and Peard Bay Special Area provides shelter for polar bears, seals, waterfowl, and shorebirds. It is no secret that wildlife thrives in the Western Arctic.

However, the entirety of the Reserve is managed for more than wildlife, subsistence, and recreation. Over half of the Reserve is open to oil and gas leasing and development. Right now we are at a critical moment to ensure that the first oil production facility is held to the highest standards, as the stakes are high in our nation’s wildest public lands.

Stay engaged with Conservation Lands Foundation as we work to ensure the best technology and practices are used in the Reserve to protect connectivity throughout the landscape, support wildlife in surrounding areas, and protect the quality of this stunning public landscape. The Western Arctic Reserve belongs to Americans across the nation, and I hope someday you get to visit it.

~Lindsey Hajduk

Learn more about Conservation Lands Foundations’ work on Alaska’s Western Arctic, email lindsey@conservationlands.org

]]>BLM Falls Short of Comprehensive Analysis of Proposed Western Arctic Developmenthttps://conservationlands.org/blm-falls-short-of-comprehensive-analysis-of-proposed-western-arctic-development
Fri, 07 Mar 2014 13:21:30 +0000http://www.conservationlands.org/?p=6514read more]]>Late last month, the Alaska Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a set of five draft alternatives for the development of the first commercial oil production facility on federal land within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve).

The proposed Greater Mooses Tooth oil and gas development is located in the wildlife rich northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) near the Colville River Delta and both the Teshekpuk Lake and Colville River “Special Areas”, areas largely off limits to oil and gas development due to their exceptional wildlife and subsistence values. The region includes key habitat for migratory birds and waterfowl, a number of fish species and the Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd, one of North America’s largest. Additionally, Fish Creek, an important area for native subsistence, is within the project area boundaries.

Though we are pleased that the BLM included a “roadless development” option, the agency failed to consider seasonal drilling within the draft alternatives. Instead, the agency insisted on solely analyzing options that consisted of year round drilling and production.

As a result, we feel that the BLM did not create an alternative that fully considers a comprehensive minimal impact development. Moving forward, we look forward to working with Alaska Office to ensure the final product utilizes best available technology as to facilitate a development that has both a minimal footprint and limited impact on wildlife and native subsistence.

At nearly 23 million acres, the Reserve is our country’s largest unit of public land and harbors a wide array of wildlife including two caribou herds, threatened polar bears, wolves, wolverines and millions of migratory birds and waterfowl, among others. Roughly half the Reserve is awarded “Special Area” status and is largely off limits to oil and gas development. The remaining 11.8 million acres, roughly half of the Reserve, is available for oil and gas leasing.

]]>Legislation Aims to Nullify Balanced Approach in Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/legislation-aims-to-nullify-balanced-approach-in-western-arctic
Thu, 21 Nov 2013 04:08:06 +0000http://www.conservationlands.org/?p=5995read more]]>Today, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Lands, Jobs and Energy Security Act of 2013 (H.R. 1965), introduced by Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO). If signed into law, the legislation would nullify protections for the most critical wildlife habitat and native subsistence areas within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve). The bill abandons the Obama administration’s management plan for the Reserve, which was finalized this year following an extensive two and a half year process that was broadly supported by over 400,000 Americans, sportsmen, scientists and members of Alaska’s native community.

A globally significant wildlife landscape, the Reserve includes habitat for two caribou herds, millions of migratory birds and waterfowl, polar bears, walrus, wolves, wolverine, grizzly bears, seals and beluga whales, among many others. Congress, and members of both parties, have long recognized the Reserve’s remarkable environmental and social values and directed the Secretary of Interior to balance oil and gas drilling with the protection of the Reserve’s Special Areas. H.R. 1965 would directly contradict this long history and effectively allow for unchecked and risky oil and gas drilling in the Reserve’s most sensitive areas.

Luckily for the American people and the Reserve’s immense wildlife populations, this legislation will go no further. It is very unlikely that United States Senate will take up this legislation and even if it did, President Obama has stated that if it reached his desk, he would warm up his veto stamp. Instead of wasting time passing dead end bills, our elected officials should applaud and respect the common sense approach enacted in the Obama administration’s recently finalized plan.

Alaskan, Arctic explorer, and author of “On Arctic Ground” Debbie Miller, testified against H.R. 1964 (the precursor to H.R. 1965) earlier this year. You can read Debbie’s full written testimony here.

]]>House Bill Seeks to Nullify Balance in Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/house-bill-seeks-to-nullify-balance-in-western-arctic
Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:59:36 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=4982read more]]>Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 1964, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Access Act, introduced by Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA). If signed into law, the bill would nullify the Obama administration’s balanced planfor the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve). The current plan, finalized earlier this year, protected the most critical wildlife habitat and native subsistence areas within the Reserve as five Special Areas mostly off limits to oil and gas drilling. The plan also opened up roughly 11.8 million acres of the Reserve to leasing. H.R. 1964 redefines the Reserve as explicitly designated for the singular purpose of providing oil and gas drilling access, undercutting the protection of many important surface values that have been a fundamental congressional mandate in the Reserve since its management was passed to the Department of Interior from the Navy in 1976. The legislation echoes the same call for annual leases that the Obama administration is already holding, yet seeks to expedite drilling through potentially hazardous and risky shortcuts. The administration is already doing what is needed to allow reasonable access to oil and gas within the Reserve. The Obama administration’s final plan for the Reserve was the result of a two-and-a-half-year public process that included extensive consultation with a wide array of stakeholders and resource managers. The final product was a well thought-out management plan that protects wildlife habitat for two caribou herds, wolves wolverines, musk oxen and one of the largest densities of grizzly bears in North America. The plan also protected offshore areas critical for marine mammals including endangered beluga whales and spotted seals and a unique complex of coastal wetlands critical to literally millions of migratory birds and waterfowl. The combination of sound habitat protections and the responsible availability of oil and gas exploration resulted in an approach broadly supported by sportsmen and woman, scientists, conservationists, Alaska Tribes and more than 400,000 Americans who care how these public lands are managed. Hastings’ bill is unnecessary, short-sighted and detrimental to the world-class wildlife this spectacular landscape harnesses. The Conservation Lands Foundation’s Alaska Program will continue to work toward ensuring the Reserve’s Special Areas are protected and that any infrastructure development is done with limited impact to the Reserve’s surface values. H.R 1964 is a direct threat to both of these goals.
]]>BLM Protects Five Special Areas During Western Arctic Leasing Processhttps://conservationlands.org/blm-protects-five-special-areas-during-western-arctic-leasing-process
Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:24:42 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=4955read more]]>This past week the Bureau of Land Management issued a call for nominations for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve). This “call” is the first step toward putting forward an oil and gas lease sale that will likely take place this November. Nominations for lease sales will not be honored for roughly 11 million acres of the Reserve, in areas deemed important for their wildlife and subsistence values in the recently finalized management plan.

The areas off limits to leasing are mostly located in the Reserve’s five Special Areas and include habitat for two caribou herds, wolves, wolverines, musk oxen and one of the larger densities of grizzly bears in North America. These areas also include important habitat for marine mammals such as endangered beluga whales and spotted seals, an important subsistence resource for the native communities. The Reserve’s network of coastal wetlands and lagoons support literally millions of migratory birds and waterfowl, the most critical of which will be mostly off limits to oil and gas activities.

In an important milestone for this globally significant landscape, the Obama Administration’s 2012 Integrated Activity Plan puts roughly 11 million acres of the Reserve off limits to oil and gas drilling while creating five Special Areas totaling over 13 million acres. As the Bureau of Land Management moves forward with yearly leasing in the Reserve, the Obama Administration and Secretary Jewell deserve our praise for ensuring that the most important areas for wildlife and native subsistence are protected.

]]>Proposed Legislation Nullifies Balanced Approach in Western Arctichttps://conservationlands.org/proposed-legislation-nullifies-balanced-approach-in-western-arctic
Wed, 22 May 2013 23:31:48 +0000https://conservationlands.org/?p=4796read more]]>Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on H.R. 1964, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Access Act, introduced by Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill would nullify the Obama administration’s recently finalized management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve), our nation’s largest unit of public lands.

The existing plan protects the habitat for two caribou herds, millions of migratory birds and waterfowl, threatened polar bears, walrus, wolves, wolverine, grizzly bears, seals and beluga whales, among many others. Congress has long recognized the Reserve’s remarkable environmental and social values and directed the Secretary of Interior to balance oil and gas drilling with the protection of the Reserve’s Special Areas. H.R. 1964 would directly contradict this long history of the congressionally recognized need for balanced management and effectively allow for unchecked oil and gas drilling.

Simply put, this bill seeks to bring risky unsafe drilling to the Reserve and nullifies a balanced approach to managing one of our most spectacular landscapes. Congress should reject this legislation and support the common sense approach enacted in the Obama administration’s recently finalized plan.

As future development is considered in the Reserve, there are important issues of national and local interest regarding where and how any such development is undertaken. The Obama Administration is to be commended for adopting a very fair and balanced approach to resource development and the protection of the Reserve’s Special Areas. Rep. Hastings’ legislation destroys this balance and threatens the values congress and past administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have supported.

Alaskan, Arctic explorer, and author of “On Arctic Ground” Debbie Miller testified against H.R. 1964 during the hearing. You can read Debbie’s full written testimony here.